They wanted to insulate their houses and trusted dishonest contractors who did not fulfill their contracts. Now they are receiving calls from provincial environmental protection funds to return the subsidies. The government is working on helping people after…harmed in the “Clean Air” program. Without it, they would have to pay the subsidies out of their own pockets.
The government is working on a bill to help those affected by the Clean Air program. These are people who decided to thermal modernize their property and stayed used by dishonest contractors. Now the provincial funds for environmental protection and water management are demanding the return of the subsidies granted.
The fraudsters took money from the beneficiaries and disappeared
What was the fraud? Dishonest contractors operated according to one pattern: they presented house owners, i.e. program beneficiaries, with an offer of modernization works and prepared a cost estimate and work schedule. The contractor company was supposed to submit the application to the program. All you had to do was pay her your own contribution, i.e. VAT and the difference resulting from the investment value.
Property owners paid part of the costs of thermal modernization works to contractors (approx. PLN 40,000). The latter submitted applications to the “Clean Air” program, received a subsidy from the program (e.g. PLN 68,000), and then contact with them ceased. The case was first reported by Wyborcza.biz.
Special Act “under injured beneficiaries”
However, the obligation to return the money rests with home owners, because to they are a party to the co-financing agreement in the program. According to estimates of the Ministry of Climate and Environment (MKiS), as many as 13,000 people may be injured in this case. families. That is why the government decided to create a law that will help those affected.
Once again, quite comprehensively, about Clean Air.
The Clean Air program includes up to 13,000 contracts with unsettled advance payments after the deadline. This is potentially 13,000 families harmed by the old program that PIS ruined. The amount of unsettled advances is PLN 736… pic.twitter.com/aqMdbUWZm0
— Paulina Hennig-Kloska (@hennigkloska) November 20, 2025
The ministries of climate and environment, regional funds and policy, finance and justice, as well as the National Fund for Environmental Protection and Water Management (NFOŚiGW) are working on legal solutions together.
– We cannot leave such people alone, which is why we decided on the legislative path that we are currently working on. We will want to do it together with the Ministry of Environmental Protection with one separate, special act, “under injured beneficiaries” – said Robert Gajda, deputy head of the National Fund for Environmental Protection and Water Management, whose words are quoted by “Portal Samorządowy”.
The state treasury will bear the loss
The new regulations are intended to stop and transfer executions financial responsibility to the state treasury. Victims should report themselves to the prosecutor's office.
– In a situation where we are dealing with fraud and the beneficiary files a report to the prosecutor's office or the police, he would have a chance to be covered by this mechanism, i.e. de facto suspension of execution. If it is confirmed that fraud has occurred, then the financial responsibility will be taken by the state treasury, which will then be responsible claim a refund from the company, which has not fulfilled its obligations. This is a proposal of the National Fund for Environmental Protection and Water Management, which will be the subject of legislative work – says Robert Gajda.
The investigation into irregularities in the implementation of the “Clean Air” program is nationwide.
